Bhavnagar, Mar 13 (PTI) A man was arrested in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district for allegedly murdering his 19-year-old daughter over an inter-caste love affair, a police official said on Thursday.
The teen was strangled on March 7 and her body was cremated hastily and secretively, which aroused suspicion among kin, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mihir Baraiya said.
"Dipak Rathod was angry at his daughter for entering into a relationship with a youth from another caste. He strangled her in the presence of her younger sister, who was threatened that she too would face the same fate if she followed in her elder sister's footsteps," the Deputy SP said.
"Dipak took the help of his brother Lalji Rathod to cremate the body secretively at the village crematorium. When relatives of his deceased wife inquired about the girl, Dipak told them she had consumed poison. He could not give satisfactory answers on detailed questioning, after which kin alerted police," the official said.
Dipak Rathod and his brother have been arrested on charges of murder, Baraiya said.
